I don’t have to attend to the act at all, which is a big relief after attending to the poem. It requires no conscious effort on my part.

Or is it a kind of procrastination? Pacing? How mundane. Maybe it’s for the pure physical movement.

Maybe it’s to fixate on something other: some kind of external stimulus or pre-verbal daydream. Banal behaviour? If I’m editing a line (or word, or sound) in a poem, and I get a sense that I’ve found the fix, like the sense of deciphering a code, I get up and pace-walking to and from a window, pausing at intervals to look out. There’s poetry there.ĪLU: Do you have any particular writing rituals? To me, the form and structure of words is akin to the form and structure of physical bodies, with ill-understood accretions and reaching limbs. I’m fascinated by the mechanics of the nomenclature-the mostly Latin and Greek roots, suffixes and prefixes, and by how rules of language are applied. I love the etymological logic involved in the construction of medical terminology. Deciphering any obscure language is alluring. Daydream mechanics by Nicole Brossard, 1980, Coach House Quebec Translations edition, in English. I’m serious, and not because of ghastly or hypochondriacal curiosities. Several volumes have been translated into English including Daydream Mechanics (Mecanique jongleus), which won the Governor General Award in poetry in 1974, Lovhers (Amantes) and Sous la langue/Under Tongue, a bilingual edition. I’m captivated by work that thrives within or extends the web of the serial or sequential form.ĪLU: Are you inspired by a particular place, thing, or someone other than another poet? They all have influenced me, and influence comes from being inspired. One thread fastens on to another-Dionne Brand, Nicole Brossard, Anne Carson, Margaret Christakos, Phil Hall, Daphne Marlatt, Erín Mouré, Lisa Robertson, and Phyllis Webb. Robert Kroetsch may have been that one for me. ALU: Which particular poets or poetry collections have most inspired your writing (in general or for this particular collection)?

Daydream Mechanics by Nicole Brossard